Death certificate the Red Baron found in Poland

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Death certificate of WWI ace the Red Baron found in Poland

Published: 5 Dec 09 18:03 CET
Online: Death certificate of WWI ace the Red Baron found in Poland - The Local
The death certificate of German World War I fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen has turned up in western Poland, the daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported on Saturday.

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Genealogist Maciej Kowalski came across it in the archives of the town of Ostrow Wielkopolski, which was the base of his regiment and his last official address, the paper said.

Richthofen, a Prussian aristocrat dubbed the Red Baron from the favourite colour of his aircraft, was born in what is now Wroclaw in Poland, formerly Breslau, in 1892.

After scoring victories over 80 allied aircraft during the war, he was finally downed near Vaux-sur-Somme on April 21, 1918, though arguments still rage as to whether he was hit by ground fire or shot down by Canadian pilot Roy Brown.

Richthofen was buried in a local cemetery with full military honours by British and Australian troops, but his body was later moved to the family vault at Wiesbaden in Germany.
AFP (news@thelocal.de)
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Your comments about this article:

.quotemain { margin: 6px 10px; padding: 3px 5px; border: 1px solid #999; font-size: 0.9em; background-color: #f8f8f8; } #1
20:00 December 5, 2009 by Logic Guy
Well, I must say "Sehr Interessant!" Report abuse »

.quotemain { margin: 6px 10px; padding: 3px 5px; border: 1px solid #999; font-size: 0.9em; background-color: #f8f8f8; } #2
20:24 December 5, 2009 by Celeon
We will never know for sure who shot him down but its pretty unlikely that it was Roy Brown.

According to the autopsy, the fatal bullet entered the body below the right armpit and went out through the left side of his chest.

According to the eyewitnesses, Roy Brown's plane was at no time in a position that would mad made that shot angle possible. The bullet certainly came from somewhere below.

Problem is that there were two or three ground machine gunners in suitable range who may have been the one that shot the Red Baron down.

But to find out that Brown did not shoot him down was important as this means that the Red Baron stayed undefeated in the air until his death.

He only had 80 confirmed victories but its likely that it were more than 100 in reality. In his book he speaks of a few which did not appear on his tally and also explains the reasons.

After the fatal bullet hit him, he managed to land and was still alive when australian soldiers arrived at the plane.

Sgt Ted Smout of the Australian Medical Corps, reported that Richthofen's last word was "kaputt". (broken)

Judging by Richthofen's sense of humour , he was propably referring to himself with that description. Report abuse »

.quotemain { margin: 6px 10px; padding: 3px 5px; border: 1px solid #999; font-size: 0.9em; background-color: #f8f8f8; } #3
13:22 December 6, 2009 by cleavage
If you go to Camberra in Australia to the war museum, you'll see the boots he was wearing when he was killed. They're tall and made of polar bear fur and have pointy curled up toes.

I'd imagine Richthofen would have said "kaputt" if he would hear that Germany is STILL paying for WWI in the year 2010. Report abuse »

.quotemain { margin: 6px 10px; padding: 3px 5px; border: 1px solid #999; font-size: 0.9em; background-color: #f8f8f8; } #4
16:10 December 6, 2009 by Celeon
Yeah ,i have a photo showing two comerades helping Richthofen into his thick winter clothes just before his last flight.

The unusual boots immidiately catch the eye.

There is a good possibility he shot that polar bear by himself as he was a passionate hunter.

When not flying missions, he spent many war nights hunting wild boars all alone in the french forests.

Not a bad life the pilots had compared to the men in the trenches.

The boots perfectly reflect how cold it must have been in those early unheated and completely open airplanes. Especially in the winter ! Report abuse »

.quotemain { margin: 6px 10px; padding: 3px 5px; border: 1px solid #999; font-size: 0.9em; background-color: #f8f8f8; } #5
16:55 December 6, 2009 by Steven192
No arguments required, Snoopy got him. Report abuse »

.quotemain { margin: 6px 10px; padding: 3px 5px; border: 1px solid #999; font-size: 0.9em; background-color: #f8f8f8; } #6
20:51 December 6, 2009 by mossmusic
I have to admit, it is very funny when the comments are longer than the actual story being reported. Steven192 is correct though. Snoopy and his Sopwith Doghouse took him over France. Get your facts straight The Local.... Report abuse

 

[china]

1. Poland

'Red Baron' death certificate turns up in Poland

The death certificate of Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the legendary First World War German flying ace better known as 'Red Baron', has been discovered in Poland.



By Matthew Day in Warsaw
Published: 10:35PM GMT 06 Dec 2009

German flying ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron, right, talks to other German officers Photo: GETTY


Ninety-one years after Von Richthofen died after being shot down near the River Somme in France Maciej Kowalczyk, a genealogist, found the document in archives belonging to the western Polish town of Ostrow Wielkopolski.
Mr Kowalczyk explained that the town, which in 1918 was part of Germany, issued the death notice in accordance to German law.
"Imperial regulations from 1879, relating to military personnel, who had left their permanent residence on mobilisation and were later killed, dictated that their death was registered at their last residence before heading to the front," he told the PAP news agency.
In 1914 Von Richthofen, then a cavalry officer with the 1st Lancers, was stationed in Ostrow Wielkopolski and gave it as his last official address before going to serve on the eastern front.
After transferring to imperial Germany's air force, Von Richthofen went on to become the Great War's most successful fighter pilot with 80 kills to his name, and winning the respect of both friends and foe alike.
Shot down behind British lines in April 1918 by either aircraft of the Royal Air Force or ground fire from Australian troops he was given was given a military funeral with full honours.
The discovery of the death certificate in Poland will strengthen the unusual but growing ties between the country and the German war hero.
Swidnica, the site of the Von Richthofen family seat, boasts memorials to the fighter ace, and local officials now tout the town's Red Baron connection as reason to visit, and even a local sports club has adopted his name.